Herald of the Morning (AP 173) - Naval Cruise Book

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Leaving the Solomons on 8 September, l944, she reached the Palau Islands on I5 September, landed a portion of the 8lst Wildcat Division and then took the re- mainder of the troops north for the peaceful occupation of Ulithi Atoll. With that job completed, the ship headed south for the New Guinea area and on I October arrived at Manus, Admiralty Islands, to prepare for the greatest operation to that time of the war- the assault on the Philippine Islands, bastion of Japan's newly-stolen empire. On 20 October, IQ44, memorable as the date the United Nations forces cleaved their way into the'Jap empire at Leyte Island, P. I., the HERALD OF THE MORNlNG'S landing craft were carrying the assault waves of the famed First Cavalry Division ashore just south of Tacloban, Although enemy planes were in the air and made futile attempts to harass shipping, the crew of the HERALD unloaded troops and cargo in less than ten hours and sped out of the area by dark. Accompanied by ships of her group, she traveled to Guam, in the Marianna Islands, by way of Palau. There the ships picked up the 77th Division which had participated in the capture of Guam. By a roundabout course through the Marshalls and dovvn to the Solo- mons, the ships eventually arrived at Manus to fuel and provision before making another run on Leyte within a month after the initial assault. , . The fighting 77th Division was landed on Z3 November at Dulag, on Leyteqlsland, and H -H our

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E I l The U.S.S. HERALD OF THE MORNING, built for the ,Maritime Commission as a C-2 cargo ship, and converted by the Navy into a medium-sized transport, spent most of her time as a Naval auxiliary in Pacific theatre amphibious operations during the war. This ship engaged in five amphibious operations, several reenforcement runs into forward areas and was under enemy attack frequently but successfully eluded damage. Since the cessa- tion of hostilities the HERALD operated as part of the Magic Carpet and the Naval Transportation Service, evacuating Army and Navy personnel from the Pacific areas and carrying replacements to forward stations. Built by the Moore Drydock and Shipbuild- ing Company of Oakland, Calif., in the sum- mer of 1943, she was named for the American sailing ship Herald of the Morning which was famous on both oceans in the second half of the l9th century as a fast and beautiful medium clipper. The new HERALD made one trip to the Hawaiian Islands as a merchant cargo vessel before being taken over early in i944 by the Navy for conversion into an auxiliary transport. The United Engineering Company of Ala- meda, California, was given the job of con- verting the ship for Navy use. The original conversion plans called for the job to be com- pleted in June, I944, but the urgent need for transports resulted in the moving up of that date to April and on 22 April, I944, she was commissioned by the Navy, yard workmen halting their labors briefly as Commander, now Captain Harry A. Dunn, received the vessel as commanding officer. Many items of conversion could not be completed before the 'ni XI Mfzmg ship sailed with a crew made up mainly of inexperienced seamen and officers for the Hawaiian Islands. On her maiden voyage as a Navy ship, the HERALD OF THE MORNING carried a full load of ISOO Army casual passengers. When the ship arrived in Oahu, an ex- perienced landing craft division was placed aboard, amphibious equipment was installed hastily and the HERALD OF THE MORNING embarked a combat battalion of the famous New York 27th Army Division for a practice amphibious run to Maui. Back at Pearl Harbor a week later, a few more repairs were added and on I June the ship left for Saipan, Mari- anna lslands, by way of Kwajelein Atoll in the Marshalls. The HERALD OF THE MORNING was in the Saipan area from I6 June until '26 June when she sailed for Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, remaining there for two weeks before return- ing to Pearl Harbor. While at Saipan the HERALD OF THE MORNING, despite the inexperience of her crew, unloaded nearly a thousand tons of cargo on the beach in a single day, a feat which brought forth com- ments of well done from her division and group commanders. With her first amphibious operation com- plete at Saipan, the ship was assigned to par- ticipate in the Palau operations in the Western Caroline Islands and quickly made prepara- tions for that assignment. Another brief prac- tice run was made to Maui and on I2 August, I9-44, she sailed with an amphibious group for Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, to await the time for the assault on the Palau Islands.

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